A Short History of Christian Theophagy

I wish that I could officially give two separate star ratings, one for the pre-Luther chapters and one for the Luther-and-beyond chapters. If it was so, then I would give 4 stars to the former and 1 star to the latter. The discrepancy reflects a book that started off with a bang but fizzled early, and my persistence in reading it reflects a hope that the bang would return; it did not.

It was fascinating to learn about the prevalence of god-eating among the religions of the world, and how Christianity first came to embrace the idea and practice. It was also interesting to learn that this belief and practice caused a lot of controversy in the early Church, primarily between the Jews-turned-Christians and the Pagans-turned-Christians. Very good stuff.

Once the book got to the age of Luther, though, it became page after page of old white guys debating the same three points endlessly. And that's History - sometimes it is freaking boring.